“Thanks to your father’s help,” Aiden said softly.
Her cheek twitched. “My father made some very bad decisions in his years, but I always appreciated that he helped you both pay into training positions to rise above your fathers’ places in his household.”
“Yes,” Wren said. “He was a complicated man.”
“He was.” She bent her head. “But please tell me about Caldwell, Aiden. Was he kind to you?”
Aiden shook his head. “I cannot believe you recall his name after all these years.”
“I recall everything,” she said softly, and smiled at him before she took a bite of stew and made a face of ecstasy that was distracting almost beyond measure.
“Yes, Mr. Caldwell very kindly took me under his wing and into his house, and after we three were parted I dove into my studies and work with even more gusto than I had done before. Soon I was doing half of the old man’s work and then all of it as he got older and less able or interested. When he retired, he left his firm to me, as well as all his clients, including the estate of Emilia’s father.”
“You were good at the work,” Wren said, a statement, not a question.
“Very,” Aiden agreed. “That is not being cocksure, I know I’m good at what I do. I’ve worked on all kinds of contracts and disputes, and I don’t have many unsatisfied clients. I’ve served everyone from country gentlemen all the way to the royal family of Athawick while they were here for their tour two years ago.”
Both Emilia and Wren’s eyes were wide. She clasped her hands together. “They made such a splash!”
“They did. And I’ve continued to do some work for them since, as they navigate the changes to their country. It has been, apart from thoughts of you two, a very good life.”
“That was your business,” Emilia encouraged. “But what about…personally?”
Aiden shifted and glanced at Wren. “Do you really want to know about my life after you two were gone?”
“Yes,” Emilia said. “You know of mine. I want to know all your joys and sorrows. You never married, a fact I admit I’m selfishly happy about. But you must have had lovers. Perhaps even loves.”
“Lovers,” Aiden admitted. “Both woman and men in various arrangements over the years. But never loves. No, I never had any room in my heart for anyone else but the very people at this table.”
Wren’s nostrils flared a little and he stared at his hands, clenched on the tabletop before him, his food untouched so far. This subject clearly troubled him, though Aiden couldn’t place why it would be so.
“Did you two ever see each other?” she asked. “The society of a successful barrister must be much the same as that of a well-thought of investigator.”
“I only saw Wren twice in all that time,” Aiden said softly. “Once at a club and once in the street. We didn’t speak either time.”
Her mouth twisted with sadness. “It is so unfair. Sometimes I liked to imagine that you two decided not to fulfill your unwanted promise to keep away from each other. That you found each other and were able to find comfort together.”
“There was no comfort,” Wren said, his voice rough.
She shifted her attention to him, as did Aiden. He still didn’t understand Wren’s expression. “Why do you look that way, Wren?” Aiden whispered.
Wren refused to meet his gaze. “Look like what?”
“Like it…hurts,” Emilia said and she glanced at Aiden. He smiled at her despite it all. They were a united front now. “Why does it hurt still, Wren?”
He shifted and grabbed for his wine glass, downing the entirety in one rather ungentlemanly slug. When he had finished, he said, “Digging in the past won’t change it, will it?”
Emilia reached out, cupping his cheek, smoothing her thumb along the rough stubble. Wren looked at her then, really looked at her, and their connection was so powerful that Aiden couldn’t breathe. God, he could look at it forever.
“Please,” she whispered. “There have been so many barriers between us, don’t create another. Not now. Not after everything.”
His eyes fluttered shut, his breathing grew more labored. Aiden could see his struggle, his heartache, and he ached in return. But he and Emilia sat quietly, simply waiting for Wren.
And at last he spoke. “Emilia, you said you never saw either of us again until you called for Aiden to help you. And Aiden, you said you only saw me twice in the years we’ve been parted. But…but it was different for me. I…I saw you both, many times. I watched you both, and it ripped me apart.”
CHAPTER8
Wren
